Hello all. I just found this newsgroup and am hoping that someone will be
able to help me. I have a 2004 Hydra sports 212WA. I am interested in
purchasing an electric windlass for it. Of all the dealers I've contacted,
only one dealer has responded. Unfortunately, he hasn't been much help. He
says that only one windlass will fit that boat and that we wouldn't be able
to install it ourselves, so, of course, they would have to do it for
$1800.00. He won't even say what particular windlass it is; only that it is
a Lewmar.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks for your time,

Barb

vanbar6 wrote:
Hello all. I just found this newsgroup and am hoping that someone will be
able to help me. I have a 2004 Hydra sports 212WA. I am interested in
purchasing an electric windlass for it. Of all the dealers I've contacted,
only one dealer has responded. Unfortunately, he hasn't been much help. He
says that only one windlass will fit that boat and that we wouldn't be able
to install it ourselves, so, of course, they would have to do it for
$1800.00. He won't even say what particular windlass it is; only that it is
a Lewmar.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks for your time,

Barb

Barb,

Any number of winches will fit a small boat like yours. I put one on my
old 27 footer and including the fiberglass bow pulpit and roller
assembly I probably spent about $2000 total. On your boat your only
talking about a roller assembly, the winch and the line with the chain
spliced on to it. I would say your probably looking at $1000 or less if
you do it yourself. Now a winch is not the easiest thing to install if
your not handy, but if you are, it's not bad. Best bet is to keep an
eye out for other boats like yours to see how others did it and which
installation looks the best. Also, I would reccomend a free fall
windlass, their just so much easier to anchor exactly where you want
to, rather than waiting for the anchor line to power out as you drift
away from where you wanted to be waiting for the anchor to hit bottom.

John

Thanks for your help. I was wondering whether to get a freefall or not.
That's one less choice I have to think about now! Between the two of us
we're pretty handy so we should be ok. Again, thanks a million!

Barb
"Capt John" wrote in message
oups.com...

vanbar6 wrote:
Hello all. I just found this newsgroup and am hoping that someone will
be
able to help me. I have a 2004 Hydra sports 212WA. I am interested in
purchasing an electric windlass for it. Of all the dealers I've
contacted,
only one dealer has responded. Unfortunately, he hasn't been much help.
He
says that only one windlass will fit that boat and that we wouldn't be
able
to install it ourselves, so, of course, they would have to do it for
$1800.00. He won't even say what particular windlass it is; only that it
is
a Lewmar.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks for your time,

Barb

Barb,

Any number of winches will fit a small boat like yours. I put one on my
old 27 footer and including the fiberglass bow pulpit and roller
assembly I probably spent about $2000 total. On your boat your only
talking about a roller assembly, the winch and the line with the chain
spliced on to it. I would say your probably looking at $1000 or less if
you do it yourself. Now a winch is not the easiest thing to install if
your not handy, but if you are, it's not bad. Best bet is to keep an
eye out for other boats like yours to see how others did it and which
installation looks the best. Also, I would reccomend a free fall
windlass, their just so much easier to anchor exactly where you want
to, rather than waiting for the anchor line to power out as you drift
away from where you wanted to be waiting for the anchor to hit bottom.

John

"Capt John" wrote in news:1151421578.053673.263240
@j72g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

Any number of winches

I suspect the reason the dealers don't want the job is the liability of her
suing them when the winch pulls out of the chopper gun plastic boat when
the anchor gets stuck.

Will a big backing plate behind the plastic be able to stand the winch
pulling hard under these conditions? See? The dealer would be the goat if
it doesn't. Can't say I'd want the job and the blame, either.

Larry wrote:
"Capt John" wrote in news:1151421578.053673.263240
@j72g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

Any number of winches

I suspect the reason the dealers don't want the job is the liability of her
suing them when the winch pulls out of the chopper gun plastic boat when
the anchor gets stuck.

Will a big backing plate behind the plastic be able to stand the winch
pulling hard under these conditions? See? The dealer would be the goat if
it doesn't. Can't say I'd want the job and the blame, either.

A backing plate is a good idea, but I've never really seen someone
install one. If you want, adding extra layers of glass under the deck
is probably easier and better but takes a little more work. On a boat
with a winch, regardless of the size, you can very easily overload the
winch and hardware (pulpit, roller, ect) and cause damage to the boat
should you hang the anchor on structure. If this is the case, tie off
to a cleat, get out the anchor ball, and give it a try. But if it's not
coming free it's better to cut off rather than damaging the boat or
hurting someone in the process. When you pull the anchor with the winch
move the boat up slowly as you take in line until your directly above
the anchor, at that point the winch should pull the anchor free easily.

John